Waiting Upon the Lord: Four Dimensions of Trust

"And I will wait upon the Lord." In this resolution lies a becoming practice toward Jehovah characterized by four essential movements: intense desire, diligent attention, earnest expectation, and constant dependence.

Within this exercise, humility and hope unite with patience and perseverance, producing an agreeable serenity of mind that opposes turbulence of spirit and uneasy emotions. This waiting checks every opposite passion and preserves the mind in pleasing tranquility—satisfied with the sovereign good pleasure of God while remaining attentive to diligent improvement of all means appointed for attaining the desired end.

In every change, affliction, and trial, waiting upon the Lord disposes the soul wholly to rely upon God for all the blessings He hath promised to bestow in the season He sees most proper to confer them. The closing clause repeats this resolution: "I will look for Him."

Waiting on the Lord amid desertion and gloom reveals Jehovah's characteristic appellation—"The God who hideth Himself"—and the implied mysteriousness of His dealings with His people. Yet the believer's resolve under this visitation remains unshaken. The hidden God is not an absent God. His silence forms part of His sovereignty, His timing part of His mercy. In darkness, the faithful still wait, still look, still trust the invisible hand that guides all seasons according to eternal wisdom.